Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reprimanded Chase Bank on Twitter midday Saturday for suggesting that people who struggle with bills or have poor credit are irresponsible, calling the financial institution's comments "heinous."
It’s a big part of what makes this Chase tweet so bad.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 11, 2019
It’s the idea that if you choose to have any expense beyond mere animalistic survival - an iced coffee, a cab after a 18hr shift on your feet - you deserve suffering, eviction, or skipped medicine.
You don’t. Nobody does. pic.twitter.com/XKo6ayPfRJ
What she's saying: Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that "1 of the greatest scams in US is the idea that financial struggle is due to 'poor character.'”
The New York legislator said part of what makes Chase Bank's tweet "so bad [is] ...the idea that if you choose to have any expense beyond mere animalistic survival - an iced coffee, a cab after a 18hr shift on your feet - you deserve suffering, eviction, or skipped medicine."
She added that even though she personally makes more money now than she did a year ago and people consider her "rich," it's not the type of rich that should be taxed. She says policy-wise she is referencing: "nesting-doll yacht rich. For-profit prison rich. Betsy DeVos, student-loan-shark rich. Trick-the-country-into-war rich. Subsidizing-workforce-w-food-stamps rich."
Driving the news: Her public condemnation follows the introduction of a bill that she and 2020 candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday to prevent credit card interest rates from rising above 15% and capping consumer loans.
